Le Trésor national : France
by Aradia-rising
Summary: A piece of the original treasure holds the clue to another one, hidden by Napoleon himself. Who better to unravel the mystery than Benjamin Gates?
1. Prolouge

I was really hesitant posting this chapter, since it feels really incomplete. But please tell me what you guys think.

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In a bright sterile laboratory, a team of French scientists in white lab coats worked to restore thousands of artifacts recently obtained by donation. A younger woman, cleaning a 17th century ring, gave a start. "_Conservateur! J'ai trouvé quelque chose_!" 1 

The portly curator rushed over to her as fast as his short legs would allow. "_le quel est_?" 2 he asked interestedly, leaning over her table.

"_C'est un... énigme_?" 3 The woman quirked her head and looked up at the curator, her green eyes widening.

"_Un autre trésor peut-être_?" 4 he replied uncertainly.

"_Seulement une façon de trouver_," 5 The woman replied grinning, "_Obtenir sur le telephone_ Benjamin Gates!"5

On a private jet, soaring above the Seine River, Abigail Gates was shaken out of her uneasy sleep. "Abigail, we're here." Her husband, Ben Gates, said quietly.

"This better be important." Riley Poole grumbled, packing up his laptop in anticipation of the landing plane.

"They called us at two A.M. Riley. It must be important." Ben replied calmly.

The jet touched down, and slowed to a stop. Immediately the pilot unlocked the door and conducted the trio out onto the landing strip. Waiting for them, squinting in the bright sunlight was a plump, gray haired man wringing his squashy hands in excitement. "Ah! Benjamin Gates! And Madame Gates, _un plaisir_.6"

"It's good to meet you Monsieur Vignes. We-"

"Who is this?" M. Vignes asked suddenly, peering at Riley through his thick, dusty spectacles.

"Riley Poole." He replied crossly.

"_Ah, oui, le sous-fifre_" 7 M. Vignes muttered.

"Come again?" Abigail said sharply.

"_Rien_, 8 Don't worry yourselves, merely an old man's murmurings. Now, the reason you're here." He said, guiding the Americans into a dark green Volvo. "_Bien, il es très excite_, 9 very exciting indeed. You really must see it, to be fully affected, _incroyable_, 10 incredible." He ushered Abigail into the front passenger seat and motioned for the men to take the back. He himself hoisted his round behind into the driver's seat and they sped off towards the center of Paris.

Abigail quickly buckled herself in, as did Ben and Riley. "But what is it? Monsieur, you weren't very clear on the phone-"

"Maybe because it was two O'clock in the morning!" Riley hissed leaning forward.

Ben and Abigail naturally ignored him.

"_Je dis nous_ 11- I say we, in truth it was Miss Facet, Doctor Facet actually, brilliant child _je dois dire_ 12 - she found an engraving, on a small ring in the _style napoléonien néo-classique_, 13 so we believe it's dated around the early _dix-huit centaines_, 14 about the time Napoleon came to power. _Cette gravure _15- it's really quite something- miniscule writing the whole of it. _De toute façon_, 16 the engraving describes a treasurehidden by Napoleon in his darkest days."

At this, Ben spoke up from the back. "Why have you just found this now?"

M. Vignes turned in his seat, causing the car to swerve to the right and left and Riley to hold the armrest with white knuckles. "_Puits_, 17 it was part of your donation. _Une donation très généreuse_,18 I may add thank you once again _pour une collection impressionnante."_19

Abigail turned to Ben and smiled. "The treasure belongs to the world, and every person in it."

" Could have had ten percent." Riley sang quietly.

Again, Ben chose to ignore him and instead looked out the window and watched the monuments fly by.

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The French isn't really meant to be understood, and if it's important it gets translated somewhere along the lines, but if you want to know what they're saying, here you go: 

1: Curator! I've found something! 2: What is it? 3: It's a ... riddle? 4: Another treasure perhaps? 5: Only one-way to find out. Get Benjamin Gates on the phone! 6: a pleasure 7: Ah, yes, the sidekick 8: Nothing 9; it's very exciting 10: incredible 11: Well we 12: I must say 13: neoclassical Napoleonic style 14: eighteen hundreds 15: This engraving 16; At any rate 17: Well 18; A very generous donation 19; such an impressive collection


	2. Glass Pyramids

Chapter two! I won't be able to get out the next chapter until Julie finishes my riddle (Sorry to put you on the spot) So it's really up to her when the next one will be out. But yeah, tell me how you like this one, better/worse than last chapter.

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The car pulled out of traffic and onto the sidewalk in front of the empty Louvre. Immediately Riley undid his seatbelt and scrambled out of the car, Ben and Abigail following him, much more calmly however. 

"If you think I'm getting back in a moving vehicle with that guy driving-" He hissed, following Ben and Abigail towards the Cour Napoléon.

All three of them stopped quite suddenly at the incredible sight of the looming glass Pyramids.

"Beautiful." Riley breathed, and Abigail and Ben whipped their heads to stare at him. "Not the glass, her." Standing at the base of the largest pyramid was an attractive young woman who seemed to be in her mid twenties. Her long dark hair was pulled back into a ponytail, creating a light contrast with her camelhair coat.

"Ah! Mademoiselle Facet!" M. Vignes rushed past the Americans and quickly kissed the young woman on both cheeks.

"Is that his girlfriend?" Riley asked incredulously, "Lucky guy."

For a few moments the two French historians spoke quickly and quietly in rapid French. Then M. Vignes nodded his head once and led the younger woman towards the foreigners.

"Bonjour, I am Doctor Elaine Facet. And you must be Abigail Chase." She quickly embraced Abigail and kissed her on both cheeks. "I've heard only good things about you." Her voice had little of the French accent that M. Vignes' held, but enough to know that French was her mother tongue.

"Thank you, I could say the same, Monsieur Vignes wouldn't stop exalting your work."

Elaine blushed and quickly moved onto Ben. "Benjamin Gates, it is wonderful to see you in Paris again!" She said repeating her gesture.

"And this must be the infamous Riley Poole." Elaine kissed both his cheeks as well and took a step back to study him. "My colleagues had spoke of your wit, but left out how very handsome you are." She kissed him again.

"Pardon me, but I must get to a very pressing meeting with the board of directors. I leave you in M. Facet's capable hands." M. Vignes shook Ben's hand, quickly hurried back to the car and sped off into the street.

"Now, you must be wondering exactly why you received such an urgent call from us. I apologize for the early hour, but it really could not wait." She said, briskly walking towards the museum entrance. "As Doctor Vignes has undoubtedly told you, when our restoration team was cleaning some of the artifacts that you donated, we stumbled upon a ring. The interior of the ring, when cleaned of course, had engraved upon it, a riddle. This riddle seems to hint at a treasure hidden by Napoleon."

"So why call us?" Abigail asked, rounding the corner at Elaine's side.

Elaine grinned, "Who better to unravel the mystery of a lost treasure than the original finders?"


	3. To the end of all days

A huge thank you/ shout out/ virtual cookie goes to Julie A.K.A Carol2flute for her fantastic riddle-writing skills_ **!Thank you Julie!**_

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They entered a sterile room with white walls and matching marble floors. A group of scientists in white lab coats were hunched over a brushed stainless steel counter, murmuring in French. Elaine approached the table and with a sharp whisper, sent them scattering back to their own stations.

" Parasites! Only backing the winning horse, it sickens me." She muttered darkly.

Riley shot a quick, nervous look towards Ben and stepped sideways slightly, blocking Elaine's view of him behind Ben and Abigail.

Elaine ducked down under the counter and returned with four pairs of surgical gloves. Silently she gave each of them a set and quickly pulled hers on as well. She reached into a basin of clear liquid and pulled out a shinning gold ring. It was a signet ring, bearing the image of a French Imperial Eagle on the surface. Ben noticed that the band was quite thick, nearly two centimeters wide. Elaine switched on a small overhead light and handed Abigail the ring. Riley peeked around her head to get a better look.

**Set in stone - An Emperor to Praise - His own success -To the end of all days **

"Holy Lord," Riley breathed, looking up with disbelief.

Elaine smiled softly at him. " As you can see the emperor and end of days references indicate Napoleon Bonaparte, around the early eighteen hundreds. Unfortunately," she gave a slightly embarrassed grin, " that is as far as we've gotten. We are historians, not cryptologists."

"Well we're not exactly experts on French history." Ben said uncertainly.

"But maybe we can shed some light on the riddle." Abigail said quickly. "Now, set in stone, like a building or monument of some kind-"

"Built to honor himself! To praise his own success, of course!" Elaine's eyes lit up with triumph, then dimmed suddenly. "But Napoleon was a vain man. He had dozens of monuments in his honor."

"But only two in Paris: the Elephant and The Arc de Triomphe. The elephant was destroyed in 1846, so that leaves-"

"The Arc de Triomphe. Of course! Let's go." Abigail and Ben quickly turned and hurried out of the examining room and through the maze of hallways out to the Cour Napoléon, Elaine and Riley following behind them. Swinging open the front doors the front two stopped suddenly, causing the back couple to run into their backs.

"What is it-" Riley silenced and paled, looking around Ben's form.

Standing in front of them, wielding a very lethal-looking weapon, was Ian Howe.

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Sorry it's so short but I liked the cliffie so….. Review! I'll update way faster if you do. 


	4. Le Arc de Triomphe du carrosel

Okay, okay, I'm sorry it's taken me so long, but um, I just finished this chapter today so I haven't been hoarding chapters? But really, I apologize for the wait, and hope this slightly makes up for it.

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"Hello Ben," Ian said calmly. "It's been a while." 

"Not long enough. Have they let you out for good behavior?" Ben replied

"You'd be amazed at what a small donation to a president's campaign will do. But look at us, reminiscing about old times when there's business to attend to." He cocked the gun. "Tell me where the clue leads."

"Luc?" Elaine stepped out from behind Abigail and moved slowly towards Ian. "Luc? It's so good to see you again! It's been far too long." she said, embracing him and pecking him on both cheeks.

Ian quickly pulled her flush against him, holding her by the neck and positioning the pistol at Elaine's head. "Now, let's try this again, tell me where the clue leads."

Elaine whimpered quietly.

"Tell me where the clue leads, or I'll shoot her."

Ben stayed silent, his eyes glancing around as if to find a way out.

"Come, come Ben, she doesn't have all day." Ian mocked lightly.

"Arc de Triomphe." Ben said, defeated.

"Well then, best be on our way. Ladies, Gentleman, good day."

He threw Elaine into Ben's arms and loaded himself into a small black car. It sped off to the direction of the arc.

"Are you alright?" Ben asked worriedly. Elaine nodded.

"I'm fine, but you just gave Luc the key to Napoleon's treasure." Elaine protested, pulling herself to her feet.

"Actually it's Ian." Riley said helpfully, "And all he has is the location of the next clue. We can get there first."

"If only we would have had a decoy…." Abigail said thoughtfully.

Suddenly Elaine looked across the place du carrosel and her mouth fell open. "Mon dieu," she breathed, "It was."

Riley followed her gaze. "Was what?"

She grabbed his arm and Ben's hand, "The Arc! It _was_ a decoy! The Arc de Triomphe du carrosel! It was finished before Napoleon's death, ensuring it would be safe, and it has not been renovated, the Arc de Triomphe de l'Étoile was. That is where the second clue lies, the Arc de Triomphe du carrosel!"


End file.
